The opposite of "chabuduo" is "cha hen duo"
You might be used to thinking of 差不多 (chàbùduō) as a single word, and that's totally OK. But if you want to negate the whole idea of rough equivalency, then you need to think of it as a phrase and use 差很多 (chà hěn duō). Not surprisingly, it's a little less versatile than 差不多 (chàbùduō).
Structure
When 差不多 (chàbùduō) is a predicate, it literally means "the difference is not much." The opposite, then, would be 差很多 (chà hěn duō), which literally means "the difference is very great." Less literally, if 差不多 (chàbùduō) means "more or less the same," then 差很多 (chà hěn duō) means "not the same at all" or "very different."
Subj. + 差很多
A + 跟 / 和 + B + 差很多
Examples
- 这 两 个 词 的 意思 差不多，但是 用法 差 很 多 。The meanings of these two words are basically the same, but their usages are very different.
- 她 和 她 老公 的 年龄 差 很 多 。There is a big difference between her age and her husband's age.
- 公司 今年 的 收入 跟 去年 差 很 多 。The company's income of this year is a lot less than last year.
- 我 的 生活 习惯 跟 我 父母 差 很 多 。My life habits are very different from my parents'.
- 这个 服务员 和 经理 的 服务 态度 差 很 多 。There is a big difference in the attitude between this waiter and his manager.
- 老 版本 和 新版本 的 功能 差 很 多 。There are huge differences in the features between the old version and the new one.
- 这 两 件 衣服 看起来 差不多 ，但是 质量 差 很 多 。These two pieces of clothing look pretty much the same, but their quality is very different.
- 他们 是 双胞胎 ，但是 两 个 人 的 性格 差 很 多 。They are twins, but there is a big difference in personality between them.
- 中国 文化 和 西方 文化 差 很 多 。Chinese culture and western culture are quite different.
- 两个 老师 都 很 好 ，不过 教学 风格 差 很 多 。They are both great teachers, but their teaching styles are very different.
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
- 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (p. 111) →buy
- Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 54-5) →buy
- Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (p. 116) →buy
Dictionaries
- 现代汉语词典（第5版） (p. 145) →buy
